"If we're getting to overtime or getting in the shootout, we're battling for that extra point,” Ducks forward Corey Perry said. “Those are good signs." ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER

ANAHEIM – The glass half-full approach would say the Ducks managed to gain points against two main contenders in not only the Pacific Division but the Western Conference as well.

Extend that further and the Ducks have garnered points in seven of their last nine games despite being depleted by injuries and a lack of consistent scoring beyond their top line.

The glass half-empty approach naturally tells a different story. Their failure to produce in the shootout cost them potential victories over San Jose and the Kings over the previous five days and they've won just three of their last 11 overall.

Missed opportunities? Absolutely.

“You can say that,” winger Corey Perry said. “We've probably left a couple (points out there). We haven't been playing our best hockey as of late, in the last maybe five, six games. Seven, eight games. Whatever it is.”

Perry preferred to emphasize the positive aspect. The Ducks have fallen from the top of the Pacific but they sit right in the mix, just two points behind San Jose and one ahead of the Kings.

“If we're getting to overtime or getting in the shootout, we're battling for that extra point,” he said. “Those are good signs that if we play at the top of our games, we're right there with everybody.”

Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau has talked about his team lacking a killer instinct, particularly in games where they have managed to grab a lead either in the second or third periods.

“But if we start worrying about the points left on the table, then we should start, in the same way, saying, ‘Geez, where did we get points where we didn't deserve to get points.’”

Now the Ducks have defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago on Friday and another potential Cup contender St. Louis on Saturday as road tests to complete their four-game minefield through the barbed-wire West.

The Ducks won all three meetings against the Blackhawks last season but that became a mere footnote as the league's best team was the last one standing. Boudreau isn't under any illusion that his group has some sort of mental edge on the champs.

“Don't ever start thinking that's going to be an easy game because we have some success against them last year,” Boudreau said. “They are the Stanley Cup champions with the second-fewest (regulation) losses in the league and 20 wins.

“That's not going to be easy at all. And I'm sure St. Louis is going to be chomping at the bit to get at us because they've lost a couple in a row to Pacific Division clubs. The NHL is a tough league and it doesn’t get any easier.”

Perry knows the Ducks have to show more than they did against the Kings, when they were outshot, 51-28, despite being off for two days and the Kings playing the night before against St. Louis.

“You can’t give up 50 shots a game and expect to win,” said the winger, who leads the Ducks with 16 goals. “We know that and we have to all be better collectively.”

Boudreau preached calm as his injury-plagued team goes through a tough stage following its hot start.

“Usually it evens out in the end,” he said. “We want to look forward instead of looking back and saying, ‘What if?’ Because people that say ‘what if’ end up (saying), ‘What if we were in the playoffs?’ And that's not what we're about.”

ETEM, STECKEL RETURN

The Ducks recalled Emerson Etem and David Steckel on Thursday from the Norfolk (AHL), slightly more than a week after Etem was shipped off to Norfolk following the team’s 6-3 loss to Dallas.

Etem and Devante Smith-Pelly were sent to Norfolk on Nov. 27 in what was considered a surprise move the day after the Ducks allowed a five-goal third period to the Stars. Etem’s demotion was most notable because he scored a goal in that game. On the season, Etem has had 6 goals and 4 assists.

Steckel, who was resigned with the Ducks last month, appeared in 21 games for them last season with one goal and five assists).

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